


Mind Games

by Kimber



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimber/pseuds/Kimber
Summary: Rodney has been injured and thinks he's been abandoned.
Relationships: Atlantis/Stargate Atlantis Team
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Mind Games

It is so dark he could hardly see two feet in front of him. His running never came close to breaking any records. The poor visibility only made it even harder to run because he was now tripping over things because he could not see them. His teammates would normally cover him if he fell too far behind. 

“God, why did they leave me?” Rodney asked as he ran onward trying to evade the enemy. “Did Ford make them leave me again?”

Suddenly he found himself on the ground, his right knee screaming in pain and he knew that he cut his palm by the burning pain in his left hand. The coppery smell almost made him gag, but it did not stop him from getting up. The gate had to be close and if not then he would have to accept his fate.

“Why did you leave me?” Rodney muttered as he tried to ignore the pain and focus on getting away. 

He really had no memory of how he got here, in this situation. The only thing he knew for sure was that if whoever was chasing him caught him they would kill him. Death was something he had never really thought about until he came to the Pegasus galaxy. Now it followed him everywhere. Even back on Atlantis, one could not avoid it.

It was times like these when Rodney wished he were back on Earth working on his simulations to prove all his theories and ideas. Even the Nobel did not seem important anymore when he was running for his life.

The heat was getting to him, and he wondered when it had become so hot. There was no sun, so where was the source? Rodney was shocked that he could be having these thoughts as he ran. He could hear voices in the far distance but had no inclination to try to listen to what they were saying. In his mind, if he could hear them they were too close.

“The gate, I have to find the gate,” Rodney panted, as he ran. It was getting harder and harder to breathe and it felt like his vision was getting worse. He just could not tell if his eyesight was starting to blur because he was about to pass out, or due to the light diminishing.

“John! Teyla! Ronon!”

Rodney knew they would not just leave him, but deep down he knew they could give up and leave him. “I can’t keep this up much longer!”

*******

“He cannot last much longer like this,” Teyla said as she wiped McKay’s brow with the cool cloth.

John looked down at McKay wondering how this simple mission had gotten so out of hand. They had come upon a Genii camp on their way to investigate a power source that interested McKay and Zelenka. According to the database, this planet was supposed to be uninhabited, and Teyla remembered no one being here. Her people would come here to collect medicinal herbs and spices.

Now they were hiding out in a cave with Rodney unconscious after being shot with some kind of dart. The man was burning up, talking out of his head. Calling for them and asking why they had left him behind. 

“God, why did they leave me this time?” Rodney sounded scared and hurt, and the look of fear made John hurt.

“Do you think they used something on the darts from this planet?” John asked.

“There is a poison that makes you dream your worst fear.” Ronon placed his hand on Rodney’s chest. “He does not trust us.” 

“Could this be it?” John looked over at Ronon and did not like the blank expression on the man’s face. Trust was not something he wanted to discuss right now. Since Doranda trust was a sensitive subject when it came to McKay.

Ronon shrugged. “Seems like it.”

“Cure?” John asked as he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided looking at Ronon’s face.

“No, it just runs its course. If you live then you live.”

“Great!” John hated feeling this helpless, and unable to assure McKay he was not alone.

“We will get him through this,” Teyla said with strong conviction and what John heard to be a threat. He just was not sure who she was threatening, him, Ronon, Rodney, herself, or the poison. 

“Why did you leave me?” Rodney sounded out of breath as he spoke. John checked and did not like how fast Rodney’s heart was racing. His skin was burning up, even after John managed to get Rodney to drink some crushed Tylenol mixed with some water down over an hour ago.

“We will not leave you.” Teyla leaned down whispered in Rodney’s ear, gently brushing the damp hair off his forehead. “Rodney was surprised that he was not sent off to a place called Siberia. He said it was a cold and dark place he never wanted to see again.” 

John looked up in Ronon’s face and knew the man was thinking the same thing he was. Did Rodney believe that they would have not come back for him when Ford kept him hostage? 

“John! Teyla! Ronon!” Rodney yelled causing Ronon to put his hand over the man’s mouth and lean his forehead against McKay’s.

“They cannot hear us back here unless they have come into the cavern,” Teyla assured them. 

“Trap’s still intact.” Ronon sounded agitated and helpless, and John understood the feeling more than he would care to admit. 

John had helped Ronon rig some rocks to drop on anyone that came close to their hiding place. The last he checked it was still raining hard enough that no one would be out in it looking for them either. John never felt rain hurt so much as it did on this planet. The lightning was brighter than he had ever seen, and being a pilot, he had seen some very impressive natural light shows. The amazing thing was no thunder accompanied it.

“Come on, McKay, you need to enlighten me as to why there is no thunder here.” John wrapped his hand around the scientist’s upper arm. “Not leaving you behind, buddy. Not this time.”

“Colonel Sheppard, come in.” John heard Caldwell’s voice over the comlink.

“Colonel Caldwell, you’re a port in the storm.”

“Good to know. Atlantis couldn’t get the gate to respond so they called me for cab service.”

“Yeah, we really need to find better vacation spots. This one rains worse than Seattle and cab service is worse than in New York.”

“Prepare to come aboard.”

“Have medical meet us. Dr. McKay is sick with a fever and delirium after being shot with a dart.”

“Copy that.”

John lay his head down on Rodney’s chest and said, “You’re going to be fine.”

The tightness in John’s chest eased as they faded into the light. Caldwell’s people would take care of Rodney until they got home. Until then they would not leave the man’s side once the medical team was finished doing their thing.

*******

John sat listening to what the doctor was saying. She was going to keep Rodney in a medically induced coma to try to keep him sedated until the poison leaves his system.

“His vital signs have improved since we have him on medication to help with sleep and deal with the fever and hallucinations that Dr. McKay is experiencing. His fever has broken and is resting easier now as you can see.”

McKay was lying there so still and pale, he looked like a waxed figure attached to monitors. The beeps were a blessing and an annoying sound at the same time. The good thing was they were annoyingly normal and was the only sign that his friend was still alive. The steady sound of the heart monitor told him that Rodney was at rest right now.

“Thank you, Doctor Wilson.” Teyla looked exhausted but determined to stay at Rodney’s side, tightly holding his hand.

“I will call if there are any changes.”

“Thanks, Doc. We’ll stay here for now,” John said as he looked around to make sure no one was going to stop them.

“He is going to do nothing but sleep now.”

“We stay.” Ronon made himself comfortable on the floor with his back up against the wall facing Rodney. 

“His bad dreams had him thinking we had left him. He needs us here as much as we need to be here,” Teyla explained using her firm diplomatic voice and expression. John knew then that Dr. Wilson never had a chance.

“I will see about getting you some food, blankets, and pillows.”

“That would be nice and we don’t want to be a pain…but…”

“I’ve been working with the Military long enough, Colonel, to understand.” Dr. Wilson gave him a soft smile before she turned to leave. 

“Sheppard, I’ll update Dr. Weir and we should have you all back on Atlantis in about 20 hours give or take.”

John nodded toward Caldwell as he grabbed a chair and moved it so he could sit beside Rodney. His eyes felt gritty from the lack of sleep, and his body felt like he had walked a hundred miles. 

“Rest, I will take first watch.” Teyla looked from John to Ronon. “Ronon, you will relieve me.”

“Done.”

John knew he was beaten. Laying his arms on the bed, he put his head down thinking he would get a short nap in. Then if all goes well he would go grab some coffee and wave it under McKay’s nose. 

*******

“Wakey, wakey, McKay. Zelenka is going to mount a coup soon if you keep fainting like this.” Someone sounding like Sheppard whispered in Rodney’s ear.

“I did not faint.” Rodney felt like his mouth was sandpaper and his throat hurt like when he had strep throat. His voice sounded strange, almost raspy like. “Why do-”

Someone sounding like Ronon chuckled and said, “He speaks.”

Rodney was sure it was Teyla’s motherly reprimand, “Let the doctor exam him.”

A strange woman wearing glasses and a white lab jacket told him, “Drink this and rest your voice.” 

Rodney accepted the straw and moaned in relief at the cool relief. The water tasted good and helped to ease the discomfort in his throat and his dry mouth.

“What happened?” 

“You were injected with a poison dart,” the woman explained.

“I remember being alone and running for my life.” Rodney felt confused trying to remember who or what he was running from.

“The effect of the poison rendered you unconscious and susceptible to nightmares,” the woman in white explained.

“We never left your side.” Teyla took his hand and squeezed it. Rodney remembered feeling he had been running for his life.

“I don’t remember that.” Rodney looked around at the others' faces. “Why do you all look like crap?”

“It’s good to see you too, McKay.” John actually smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Good to have you back.” Ronon grinned like a fiend.

“It is good to see you awake.” Teyla leaned down to put her forehead against his for a brief time. Rodney was sure he saw a glint of tears in her eyes.

“Oh my God, I’m dying, right? That’s why everyone is here.”

“No, you are not dying, Rodney,” Teyla assured him, and Rodney noticed that the woman in white had moved back. 

“Who is she? Where are we?”

“I’m Dr. Wilson and you’re on the Daedalus.”

Rodney closed his eyes feeling suddenly very tired. To his surprise, John was the one to say, “Rest, Buddy, and we’ll tell you everything when you wake back up.”

“They have blue jello and chocolate pudding in the mess,” Ronon said, making Rodney smile.

“We will be here, Rodney, when you wake up.”

Hearing Teyla say that they were staying with him made him feel safe. It had all been a dream-- they had not left him behind. Just to make sure this was not another dream he opened his eyes to see his team settling in chairs and on the floor around him. He heard Caldwell say something about giving Dr. Weir an update on his condition.

“Sleep, McKay, we’re not going anywhere.” John sat down and leaned back in the chair. “I’ve been told they have the new Dr. Who and you get first dibs.”

Rodney could not hold his eyes open one second longer. It was good to know they had not left and by the looks of things, were not leaving him alone. He could hear them breathing and soothed him to sleep hearing them close.

The End!


End file.
